


Of Devious Daughters and Ballet Teachers

by heartsdesire456



Series: 25 Days of Fandom [25]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ballet, Christmas, Humor, Kid Fic, M/M, Matchmaking, Single Father Steve Rogers, Veterans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 15:09:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2855261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsdesire456/pseuds/heartsdesire456
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Steve's daughter gets cast as Clara in <i>The Nutcracker</i>, Steve meets her new ballet instructor, Bucky Barnes.</p><p>It all goes downhill from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Devious Daughters and Ballet Teachers

**Author's Note:**

> What's more Christmassy than THE NUTCRACKER?!
> 
> This is it! The FINAL FIC for 25 Days of Fandom.
> 
> I HOPE YOU HAVE ALL ENJOYED THIS SERIES!

“Daddy! Daddy, Daddy, DADDY!” Steve let out a surprised ‘oof’ when the tiny weight of his daughter slammed into his middle at a force that felt much greater than he expected. 

“Whoa, Sammy, what’s-“

“I’M CLARA!” she squealed, jumping up and down excitedly in a tiny streak of red and purple leotard. 

Steve frowned. “Uh, no, pretty sure you’re Sammy-“

“Daddy,” she sighed, giving him a flat look. “I got the part of _Clara_!”

Steve smiled in what he hoped was a supportive way. “That’s great!” 

She looked at his face for a moment then rolled her eyes. “You have no idea what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah, no,” he admitted with a defeated shrug. “Who is Clara and what is it a part _in_ even?” he asked.

“Ha, I’m guessing this is Dad?” Steve looked up at the sound of a man’s voice and Sammy spun around, bouncing over to the man who had spoken. Steve frowned when Sammy grabbed his hand and tugged him over to Steve. The man was tall, almost as tall as Steve, and he was wearing yoga pants and a tee-shirt with the sleeves cut out and had his long hair pulled up in a messy bun at the back of his head. Steve had never seen him, but he could only assume he was an instructor… however atypical his workout clothes were. They definitely highlighted his muscles though, Steve had to admit. Steve realized he was staring when he met the guy’s eyes and found an amused eyebrow raised at him. 

“Uh, I’m her dad, yes,” Steve said awkwardly, holding out his hand.

The guy shook his hand. “Sammy’s talking about our production of The Nutcracker this year.” He put a hand on Sammy’s shoulder. “Sammy got the role of Clara.”

Steve smiled helplessly. “Oh. That’s great, Sam,” he said with an encouraging nod.

Sam gave him a long look. “Daddy, Clara is the main character.”

“Whoa, hey!” Steve held out his hand, high-fiving her. “That’s great, Sammy!” He looked up at the man. “Is there any special practices I need to get her to or anything?” The guy opened his mouth but before he could speak Steve saw Natasha coming their way. 

Natasha was Sammy’s usual teacher. It was her ballet school, after all. “Steve!” she said with a grin. “Did Sammy tell you?”

Sammy sighed, rolling her eyes as she flicked her bangs out of her eyes. “He had no clue what I was talking about.”

“Yeah, well, your dad’s a moron,” Natasha said and Steve huffed, crossing his arms. She looked over at the guy and nodded. “Yasha, Mrs. Roberts is looking for you.”

He grimaced. “Good reason to go hide and never come out,” he decided, making her laugh. “I’ve got this, you go tell her I died or something,” he said and she snorted but nodded.

“Okay, you explain all the details to Steve.” Natasha ruffled Sammy’s short hair, making her glare. “Make sure to pick on your dad for me extra,” she said, then walked off to go talk to another parent.

Steve turned back and smiled. “Steve Rogers, nice to meet you, Yasha,” he introduced and the guy made a face.

“Yeah, no, I’m Bucky,” he said, and Steve raised an eyebrow.

“Bucky is nothing even close to Yasha,” he said, and Bucky grinned, shrugging.

“My real name is James. Yasha is Russian for James,” he explained.

“Daddy, Bucky danced with Nat in Russia!” Sammy said brightly. 

Steve gave him an impressed look. Steve had met Natasha when Sammy was just a baby. Steve had been fresh home from the Middle East when Steve and Sammy’s mother broke up before Peggy even found out she was pregnant. It had been a friendly split, nothing messy, so when the baby was born just before Peggy got a job offer back home in England that she really wanted, they had made the decision that Steve would take full custody of Sammy. He had no trouble getting a permanent assignment in an administrative office for the Army at home since he had sole custody of his one year old daughter, and Peggy had gone to England as planned, leaving Steve to raise Sammy. He met Natasha when she moved in across the hall from him and Sammy not long after Peggy left, and she was kind enough to help him every time he had to deal with both Sammy and groceries and no elevator. Eventually they became friends enough that she’d invite herself over to just hang out with Steve and Sammy. More than once people assumed Natasha was Sammy’s mother, which was always amusing, but she was really more like the sister Steve never had. 

Steve had always known she was originally from Russia and had been a ballerina there before getting a position as a dancer in New York, but he hadn’t ever seen her dance until she retired a few years after he met her and opened up a studio of her own. He knew she’d opened it with a fellow dancer from back when she was younger, but he’d never met the other person or really asked many questions. Sammy had started taking lessons when she was very little from Natasha, but he didn’t usually have to meet anybody since Natasha took her and brought her home, and there were mostly other parents at recitals. He’d always sort of assumed it was one of the other women that taught dance, truth be told. Yet here he was, meeting Bucky.

“Oh, I can’t believe I haven’t really heard about you before,” Steve said apologetically.

Bucky shrugged. “I haven’t been teaching here. I helped Nat open the place but I haven’t been home long.” He grinned down at Sammy. “I’ve heard tons about Miss Sammy before, but I didn’t get to meet her until today.”

“Yeah, we’ve been friends with Natasha for years now.” Steve watched Sammy excitedly fidgeting and sighed. “Alright, lay it on me, why did I have to come get you today? Are you starting extra rehearsals now?”

“Afraid so!” Bucky said brightly. “She’s our main character so even if she doesn’t have the complicated choreography the older people do, she’s in every scene, pretty much, even if she’s just sitting and watching. So there’s a lot of learning when to walk where.” He shook his head. “It won’t be too much extra outside of regular class-time practices, but she’ll need to show up for some of the bigger rehearsals.” He grinned down at her. “We took measurements today so her costumes will be ready next week.” He looked back to Steve. “She’s smaller than usually Clara is so we couldn’t just alter the old costumes.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Really? I thought she was kind of tall for her age.”

“Maybe, but usually Clara is about fifteen, not eleven,” Bucky explained. “The performance we put on, it’s a few different dance schools in the area together since it’s such a big performance. Usually one of the kids from a performing arts high schools is Clara, because they need a ‘little girl’ looking girl, but they like the ones that are already at pointe level.” He shook his head. “This year I talked Natasha into scaring the directors of the performance to not do that crap.”

Steve frowned. “I have no idea what any of that is. Pointe, that’s with the toes thing, right?” he asked and Bucky rolled his eyes dramatically, giving Sammy a look.

“Is this what you put up with all the time?” he asked and she nodded gravely.

“Every day of my life.”

Bucky cracked up then turned back to Steve. “Yeah, the ‘toes thing’.” He shook his head. “A lot of people use a girl who can do pointe, but I’ve never liked that. She’s supposed to be a little girl, not a teenager, and yeah, pointe is very elegant and beautiful, but I think Clara is supposed to be more like a cute kid, not ‘elegant’, you know?” 

Steve shook his head sheepishly. “I really don’t know, but I’ll take your word for it,” he said and Bucky grinned.

“Well at least you’re honest,” he said with a decisive nod. “Anyways, when we convinced them we needed a little girl, Sammy’s old enough to learn the choreography and we never have any worries about her not showing up for rehearsals since Nat brings her usually. There were a couple other possibilities from another studio, but they must not have been as good or had some other issue because we got the release of the parts today and, sure enough, Sammy is our Clara.”

Steve smiled and shook his head. “No idea where you got all that coordination,” he said to Sammy. “When I was your age, I’d fall over walking. Must be your mom.”

Sammy brightened up. “Can I email mom when I get home?!” she asked excitedly and he nodded.

“Of course you can,” he said, hugging her and leaning down to kiss the top of her sandy-haired head. “She’ll be really proud,” he said and she beamed.

Bucky put a hand on Sammy’s shoulder with a small smile. “Alright, I’ll get out of your hair, just don’t forget about checking with Natasha for the schedule, okay?”

She nodded and let go of Steve to hug Bucky suddenly, seeming to startle him some. “Thanks, Bucky!” she said, then let go and bounced over to Steve again so they could go home.

~

Steve had the day off, so when Natasha had suggested he come sit in on rehearsals to watch Sammy, he’d readily accepted. He usually didn’t see anything but her recitals since he was working most of the time for used her Saturday lesson times for his group sessions at the VA (he still had PTSD nightmares sometimes, so he tried to stick with it). Sitting on the sidelines with some other parents, Steve couldn’t help but be reminded once again how lucky he was as he watched Sammy doing warm-ups. Sammy was the best thing that ever happened to him, and she looked so happy as she followed Natasha’s instructions just like the other kids. He was also lucky that Natasha was his best friend, because she taught Sammy for free, and he could’ve never afforded to pay for Sammy’s ballet lessons if he’d had to pay for it. Natasha had been the first to suggest Sammy take lessons and he was glad she did.

When they finished warmups, Bucky stood up – Steve hadn’t noticed him sitting among the few people he had to assume were older students from another studio on the other side from him – and walked over, to where Natasha was splitting up the groups. “Alright Sammy, c’mere,” he said, walking over to her. He turned and waved to someone from the group he’d been sitting in. A boy that looked to be about sixteen hopped up and came over. “Jason, this is our Clara. Sammy, this is our Prince,” he introduced them. Steve chuckled when Sammy had to look up at the older boy. “She’s little, so you better not have any trouble picking her up, Kid,” Bucky warned, taking them both by the hands to lead them to one end of the space, separating them from the two groups Natasha was spitting the rest into. Steve surreptitiously slid out of his chair and wandered to that end, sitting down on the floor in the corner so he could watch Sammy without getting in the way.

Steve watched for the longest as Bucky talked to the kids, gesturing some, before finally clapping and backing away from them, speaking up loud enough that Steve could hear now. “Alright, lemme do it the first few times to get you used to being up so high, okay?” he said, then without warning, he grabbed Sammy by the waist and picked her up, lifting her over his head. “Chin up, arms out, yeah, good!” Steve couldn’t help the mixture of worry that Sammy could fall and awe in how calm Sammy was as she straightened her legs and held her arms out so gracefully it looked like she’d been doing lifts for years instead of being new to this. “Alright, not scary? You ready to let Jason try?” he asked. “We have to be sure he can pick you up and hold you or else we need to re-think the choreography.”

Bucky guided Jason into picking her up and holding her up at his chest level. It was clear Jason wasn’t as strong as Bucky, but he made adjustments in the choreography so that Jason could hold her by the leg and waist so he had a better grip on her. Steve chuckled when Bucky high-fived them every time they got it right. “Alright, lemme see an arabesque, Girlie,” Bucky said as he put her in front of Jason, her hand resting on Jason’s outstretched one. When she did one, he whistled. “Man, you’re a little too high even.” He put a hand on her leg and lowered it closer to ninety degrees. “There, try not to stretch too far. You’re too bendy for my choreography,” he teased.

“Her father is really flexible, too.” Steve glared, cheeks burning when Natasha popped up beside him, seemingly out of nowhere, making Bucky look over in surprise. Natasha leaned against the wall beside Steve, smirking down at where he was on the floor. “She gets it genetically. It will be useful when she gets up to level three next year,” Natasha added.

Bucky glanced over, giving Steve a very clear once-over, smirking at him. “That a fact, huh?”

Steve could feel himself turning even brighter red as he looked up at Natasha, glaring. “Not as bendy as Natasha will be when I tie her into a pretzel,” he threatened and Natasha scoffed.

“I’d like to see you try,” she said, then walked over. “Anyways, Yasha, I need to borrow Jason for a minute to try on his costume. Just keep showing Sammy the choreography for their pas de deux and you be him.”

“Just you and me, Kid!” Bucky said, tugging Sammy over to the wall with the mirror. “We’re gonna start from the top, okay?” he said, and Sammy nodded without hesitation.

Steve settled back and smiled to himself as he watched Sammy dancing. 

(… Bucky wasn’t so bad either)

~

“And then, Bucky spun around with her OVER HIS HEAD!” Sammy cried excitedly, practically shaking the car as she kicked her feet.

Steve rolled his eyes. Of course, Bucky again. Lately all Sammy talked about was Bucky. Natasha, ballet, and most importantly, Bucky. “And then he did the BIGGEST tour en l’air ever!”

Steve frowned. “They name the dance things French? You can’t just say ‘turn in the air’?” he asked, and she gave him the most dramatic sigh. “What? I know French, what’s wrong with saying it in English?” he asked when they got to their door. 

A familiar, decidedly male and therefore not Sammy voice said, “Cause then it won’t sound fancy.” Steve turned around and saw Natasha and Bucky coming up the hall behind them. 

“Bucky!” Sammy cried, running to hug him, then pulling back. “Daddy, look, it’s Bucky!”

Natasha shot her a playful glare. “You know, I’m starting to think you like him better than me,” she accused.

Steve grinned. “I’ve just spend all our time at the mall listening to how awesome Bucky is,” he informed her and Natasha snorted.

Bucky just smirked, slinging his arm around Sammy’s shoulders when they walked to join Steve and Natasha. “Hey, the Kid just has good taste,” he said, ruffling her hair. “Although, you gotta get a haircut, Girlie. You nearly ran into the mirror this morning,” he warned and she gave Steve a dramatic glare.

“I _told_ you,” she pressed. Sammy had decided three years ago she wanted short hair like Steve’s, and even though the hairdresser told her she’d look like a boy, Steve had let her do what she wanted. A lot of people mistook her for Steve’s son since she looked just like him, with slightly darker hair, already, but Steve didn’t care. If she wanted short hair, she could have short hair. He got pretty pissed when people told her she should let her hair grow out, so Bucky casually talking about her getting a haircut instead of assuming she was growing it out to be more ‘girly’ was a pleasant surprise. 

Though looking at his long hair, it wasn’t likely he cared what was socially ‘acceptable’. 

“Well excuse me, Sammy, but I’m not a barber,” he reminded her, leaning against the door with his arms crossed. “I’ll take you to get a haircut when we both have time.” He opened the door and held it. “Come on, say goodbye to Bucky and Nat, you’ve got a project to finish,” he reminded her and she sighed dramatically, making Steve give her a pointed look. She grumbled, ignoring his ugly look as she hugged Bucky then Natasha and drug her feet on the past him into the apartment. Bucky smirked at him when he waved to them both, which made Steve blush just a little.

Bucky had really nice eyes, Steve couldn’t help but admit.

~

“Hey, Daddy,” Sammy said as she came into the apartment after Natasha brought her home from class.

“Hey, have fun today?” he asked, stirring the macaroni and cheese he was fixing. 

“Bucky thinks you’re cute,” Sammy announced without preamble.

Steve jerked so hard he burned his finger, making him yelp. “What?!” he asked, blushing.

“Yep,” Sammy said, grinning at him. “He was telling Jason that I look like your grumpy face when I get frustrated, but that you’re cuter.”

Steve swallowed. “He probably was just picking on you-“

“He said, ‘but her dad’s really cute in a not-kid way’,” Sammy added, giving him a far-too-knowing look.

Steve narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you trying to set me up with your dance teacher?” he asked suspiciously.

She shook her head, giving him an innocent smile. “I’m just telling you what Bucky said.”

Steve turned back to the stove with a huff. “If Natasha put you up to this, I’m gonna strangler her,” he threatened, ignoring the amused chuckle Sammy gave as she walked off to her room to change.

~

Every time Steve saw Bucky after that, he couldn’t help but notice the way Bucky’s eyes tended to linger on him. Bucky would come up and talk to him while Sammy was working with Natasha, or sit with him when there were full scene rehearsals and make jokes about some of the other parents in the front rows.

It was hard to keep from being charmed, but at the same time, Steve was pretty unsure of how he should feel about the idea that an attractive, amusing man might be interested in him. “I haven’t dated anybody in years,” he confided in his friend Sam over coffee after his group session.

Sam raised an eyebrow. “You better not be about to say ‘not since Sammy was born’ cause your kid is like eleven,” he said with a pointed look.

Steve chuckled, shaking his head. “I was seeing this guy for a little while when Sammy was little.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t serious though. He was really busy and I was and I had a six year old, so it was just kind of casual, and then even that got to be too much trouble so we split up.”

Sam shrugged. “Maybe he doesn’t want to date you. Maybe he just wants to sleep with you?” he suggested and Steve grimaced.

“Even worse than dating my kid’s ballet teacher would be having random sex with my kid’s ballet teacher,” he said, shaking his head. He glanced at his phone and sighed. “Speaking of ballet, I need to go. Sammy is done soon.”

Sam smirked. “And you don’t want to be late and miss Mr. Hot In Yoga Pants, huh?”

Steve smacked him with his rolled up paper. “I told you that in confidence.”

“Still gonna tease you about it,” Sam argued with a grin. 

Steve sighed, shaking his head as he walked away. “I guess I should expect nothing less.”

~

Steve was a little bit late, but when he got there, Sammy didn’t seem to mind. She was watching Bucky trying to explain something to Jason, standing beside them in her adorable little pale-blue frilly nightgown costume. “It’s like-“ He looked around, then spotted Steve. “Oh hey, Steve!” 

Steve raised an eyebrow as he got closer and Bucky grabbed his wrist, bringing him closer. “Uh, hi?” he asked and Bucky stood him in a spot, looking at him. “What am I doing?”

“Just stand there for a second. Sammy’s too short to show him properly what I mean.” Bucky took a look at Steve. “You’re strong as you look, right?”

Steve nodded, frowning. “What do you want?”

Bucky actually stuttered on a laugh some, biting his bottom lip as he gave Steve a look. “Oh you have no idea,” he said, then waved a hand. “Stand with your weight on your forward leg, the other back a little,” he said, and Steve did what he said. “Okay, just gimme your hands.” Bucky suddenly stepped into Steve’s space, almost back to front, and grabbed Steve’s hands. “The left one goes- here,” Bucky said, pulling Steve’s hand down to his lower belly as he shifted to stand on one foot, raising the other out behind him. “Right goes-“ Bucky grabbed Steve’s right hand and put it on his thigh so that Steve was holding his leg. “Arms go up,” Bucky said, raising his arms up above his and Steve’s heads. The pose made Steve slightly twitchy because Bucky’s ass was basically pressed against him and his back was curved along Steve’s front. Steve’s hand twitched some against Bucky’s leg and Bucky turned his head and gave him a teasing wink. “Don’t flake out on me Stevie, now lift me up just so that my foot is off the ground and I’ll pull my foot up the whole way.”

Steve did as he was told and Bucky laid his head back so that his neck was bared over Steve’s shoulder, their bodies practically molded together. “It looks like this.” He chanced a look, resting his cheek against Steve’s to check with the mirror wall. “Yep, in any romantic ballet, this is the classic pas de deux intimacy pose,” he said to Jason. Steve almost zoned out some as the smell of green apple from Bucky’s hair filled his nose. It was kind of ridiculous that he’d even _smell_ good as hot as he was. “And it only works when the ballerina is only a little shorter than you, so you have to get to work on those muscles, Jason, because if you can’t lift seventy-five pounds of eleven year old for more than a few seconds, you’ll never be able to hold a hundred and five pound ballerina as long as Steve’s been holding me.

Steve didn’t even realize how tired his arms were getting until, just after saying that, Bucky dropped his foot back down and took his weight. Steve blushed some as he quickly let go of Bucky’s middle and thigh, clearing his throat awkwardly. Bucky gave him a knowing look and just rested a hand on his bicep. “You should take some tips from Steve, cause man, I’m a lot more than a hundred pounds.” He squeezed his arm some. “Yeah you weren’t picking me up over your head, but damn.”

“Daddy was a soldier,” Sammy piped up, snapping Steve out of his half-turned-on staring contest with Bucky. “He had to be really strong.”

Bucky turned and brightened up. “Oh yeah? Nat never mentioned that,” he said to Steve and Sammy together. “Me, too.”

Steve looked at him in surprise. “Really?” he asked in surprise

Bucky nodded. “Yep, Army.”

“Same,” Steve said with a smile. “I technically still work for the Army, I’m just in an administrative position.”

Bucky shook his head. “Discharged.” He pulled his shirt up and when Steve looked down, he couldn’t even get distracted by Bucky’s abs before he saw the terrible scarring all down his left side, from chest to hip. “IED. I was in the hospital for a long time. I finished my PT and came back to actually work at my ballet studio.”

“So that’s why Natasha said she had a friend like Daddy before,” Sammy said, and Bucky looked up when she stepped closer, looking at the scars on his side. Bucky suddenly glanced back up at Steve apologetically, pushing his shirt down.

“Oh hey, I’m sorry if I just freaked out your kid, I didn’t think-“

“Oh she’s fine,” Steve said, making a face. “She watches shows about shark attacks, and she knows what kind of bad things happen in wars. She’s fine.” He ran a hand over Sammy’s hair. “Alright, well we better go so tell Bucky bye,” he said to her and she pouted. 

“Do I _have_ to?” 

Steve started to tell her that _yes_ they had to leave Bucky alone, but Bucky actually bounced on his toes some, glancing at Steve. “I actually wanted to ask if maybe you and Sammy wanted to go get something to eat?” Bucky asked, looking almost nervous. “My treat,” he offered with a small smile.

Steve started to decline, but Sammy narrowed her eyes at him and mouthed, ‘don’t you dare’ and he couldn’t help but smiling and rolling his eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

Bucky brightened up. “Yeah? Awesome!” he said, doing a little victory bounce. “Lemme go get my bag and shoes and there’s this awesome place like next block up!” he said in a rush, then turned and ran across the studio towards the hall that lead to the back.

Steve looked down at Sammy, crossing his arms. “Happy now?” he asked and she gave him a nod, patting his hand.

“Maybe now you won’t die alone,” she said and Steve spluttered inarticulately in reply.

~

Bucky ended up taking them, surprisingly, to their favorite pizza place. Although, Steve realized, it wasn’t that shocking, since anybody from the neighborhood had to know it was the best around, and Bucky, Steve had learned along the way, had grew up there before going off to ballet school in Russia. 

Steve knew he liked Bucky, but the way that Sammy loved Bucky made it harder and harder to keep reminding himself that dating Natasha’s business partner and Sammy’s ballet teacher was a bad idea. It would be easier if Bucky didn’t flirt so openly with him. He sort of thought maybe Bucky did that with everybody – because he did – but the way he looked at Steve sometimes suggested Steve was one that he _meant_ to flirt with, naturally flirtatious nature or not. 

His theory was proven true when Sammy got up to go to the bathroom, and as soon as she was gone, Bucky leaned forward some, resting his elbows on the table. “Hey Steve, I wanted to ask you something.” Steve waited and Bucky bit his lip, hands curled together nervously. “Do you think maybe you’d like to go out sometime?” he asked in a calm tone for his fidgety hands. Steve looked around at the pizza parlor and Bucky grinned playfully. “No, like, on a date with me.” 

Steve had been expected it, but it still his insides squirmed. “I dunno, Bucky.”

Bucky tilted his head some. “Don’t now?” He hummed, smiling some. “Why not?”

“You’re my daughter’s ballet teacher, Bucky,” Steve reminded him gently. “You see her four times a week. I have to think about what it might mean for her-“

“Apart from the fact she’s definitely been trying to set us up?” Bucky asked bluntly, and Steve smiled in amusement, nodding.

“Especially then, because if it didn’t work out, she’d think it was her fault,” he pointed out and Bucky winced.

“Shit, didn’t think of that.” He sighed, leaning back in his seat. He looked at Steve for a while before talking. “I really want to go out with you,” Bucky admitted plainly. “You’re crazy beautiful, you’re a pretty great guy, you’re an amazing dad, and your kid is really cool.” He shook his head. “I haven’t ever met a man with as much going for him as you have, Steve.”

Steve smiled bashfully, ducking his eyes. “Thanks,” he murmured. He sighed. “I am attracted to you, Bucky. Don’t get me wrong.” He looked at him and shook his head. “You’re pretty much gorgeous and my kid really likes you. Like, a _lot_ ,” he stressed. “She looks forward to Bucky about as much as ballet. Clearly your charm isn’t all my imagination trying to convince me someone that hot is a good guy.”

Bucky smirked. “I’m hot huh?”

Steve glared playfully. “You have tons of mirrors in that studio. You know you are.”

Bucky nodded to himself, looking at Steve searchingly, eyes locked with Steve’s. “Tell you what. The Christmas performance is in two weeks.” He reached out, gently laying his hand on top of Steve’s, fingertips burning against Steve’s skin. “Give me two weeks, think about it, and when my work with Sammy is done, when she goes back to basically just Natasha, I’m going to ask you again.”

Steve licked his lips, eyes locked with Bucky’s. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Bucky said a little hoarsely, fingertips tracking the vein in Steve’s inner wrist. “I’ll ask you to date me one more time. If you say no, I won’t bother you again. I’ll respect that. And if you say yes…” Bucky’s words trailed into a smile. “Well, we’ll see.”

Steve nodded, throat too dry to answer really. “Sounds- sounds good,” he squeaked as best as possible.

“Good,” Bucky whispered, before carefully drawing his hand away from Steve’s. 

They both sat, looking at each other with a heated silence, tension so thick it could be cut with a knife, only snapping out when Sammy returned.

~

The performance was incredible. Steve didn’t know much about ballet still, but _wow_. Sammy was awesome as Clara, but the older kids all had some serious talent, and the best part, by far, was Natasha and Bucky dancing together as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her partner. Steve had heard Sammy going on and on about how amazing Natasha and Bucky’s pas de deux was, but _wow_. Their precision timing was perfect, they moved so effortlessly together, and Bucky moved Natasha around like she was a paper weight, not an adult human as he tossed her above his head a few times. 

… Bucky in tights wasn’t bad either. Not bad at _all_.

After the performance and curtain calls, most of the parents went out into the lobby to wait, but Steve had been told by Natasha a way to get around to the back without getting caught, so as soon as the stage was cleared, he snuck out and went to find Sammy. Sammy was still in her costume when he snuck past one of the lighting techs and came up right behind her. “I don’t know what all that stuff was called, but you won at all of it, Sweetheart,” he said, and Sammy spun around, squealing. 

“Daddy!” she cried, jumping to hug him, clearly still full of adrenaline. She was shaking but smiling so bright it looked painful. “Daddy did you SEE?!” she cried, laughing wildly. 

Steve brought a bouquet of flowers from behind his back and she gasped, snatching them to hold. “I sure did, Sam.” He kissed the top of her head. “You were amazing. You’re always amazing,” he said, and she gave him a smile so big that he worried for a minute he was going to tear up, going by the lump in his throat. 

“Thank you, Daddy,” she said, hugging him hard again. “They’re so pretty!”

“Hey, what about me, huh, Rogers?” Steve turned and grinned when Natasha came up, hands on her hips, which looked even sillier than usual with the giant tutu fanning out from her waist. 

“Sorry, Nat, but only my baby girl deserves flowers.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “You were great, though. I can’t believe I never went and saw you dance professionally when I had the chance. That was beautiful.”

She rolled her eyes, swatting at his chest. “You’re going to make me blush, Rogers,” she said, but he could see the playfulness in her eyes. She nodded to Sammy, who had ran off to show her friends her flowers. “It’s cool, I’m turning your kid into my protégé, so you have to watch my work now whether you like it or not.”

Steve couldn’t help the pride that swelled up in him as he looked over at Sammy. “She’s so beautiful it hurts sometimes,” he breathed, unable to stop himself. 

Natasha just punched him in the arm, knocking him out of it. “Stop being sappy or you’ll start crying and I’ll need a new best friend because I can’t be seen with your embarrassing ass in public anymore.”

Steve started to argue, but Bucky walking up behind Natasha stopped his words in his throat. Bucky was still in costume – white tights and a blue vest – and he was looking at Steve with the warmest, most affectionate look Steve had ever seen on him before. “Hey,” he stuttered out, knowing his breath was shaking some.

Natasha looked between Steve and Bucky, then rolled her eyes. “Even worse than sappy Steve is awkward Steve trying to flirt. I’m out!” she announced, patting Bucky on the chest as she left. “He’s all yours.”

Bucky just turned a smirk at Steve, who was blushing after Natasha’s proclamation. “Hey, I’m down with that,” he said and Steve smiled nervously. 

“Hey. You were really great,” Steve greeted, and Bucky bowed comically.

“Thank you,” he said, then straightened up. He nodded his head towards where Sammy was with her friends. “Your girl is great,” he said proudly. “She was perfect for what I wanted tonight. She’s definitely a Natasha Romanov specialty,” he said and Steve beamed once more as he looked over at Sammy.

“She’s awesome. I’m so damn proud of her it’s crazy.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Steve, I know you. You’d still be proud even if she was terrible at it.” He smiled, tilting his head some. “You’re a great dad and you love her. She could suck at everything and you’d still be proud.”

“True,” Steve admitted. “But still. She’s my girl,” he said simply.

Bucky glanced around, then smirked as he stepped closer, into Steve’s space. “That reminds me. I think I promised you a question tonight,” he said, looking up at Steve from only a few inches away, blue eyes twinkling.

“Oh yeah?” Steve asked playfully. “What’ve you gotta ask me?”

“You wanna be my guy?” Bucky asked in a low, sultry tone, clearly throwing some extra charm on.

Steve knew it shouldn’t actually work, as ridiculously cheesy as it was, but Bucky’s tone really did make a shiver go down his spine. “You know… I don’t know-“ Bucky’s face fell comically and Steve smirked deviously as he continued after a pause. “…if I can actually think while you’re standing there in those tights.”

Bucky’s face went from half-way to sad to flirty again. “Oh the tights? You like ‘em?” he asked, and Steve groaned, dropping his head back dramatically.

“I was having the biggest moral dilemma over those tights, because this is a ninety-eight percent children ballet, yet I was having impure thoughts, I mean _seriously_ , Bucky,” Steve said and Bucky burst out laughing, grabbing onto Steve’s shoulder as he threw his head back, almost overbalancing. 

Bucky straightened up, hands on Steve’s shoulders as he caught his breath. “Oh God, Stevie, that’s too hilarious,” he said, laughter dying down to a chuckle. He wiped at his eyes, shaking his head. “Really though, the _tights_?”

“I can see every detail of your ass and thighs, I am a thousand percent serious,” Steve stressed. “They’re the best invention ever with the _worst timing_ in the history of _life_.”

Bucky smirked, leaning in some. “So at least I know you’re attracted to me physically,” he purred, arms sliding around Steve’s neck.

Steve shook his head. “Not just physically,” he admitted softly. He looked Bucky in the eyes for a moment before returning his smile “Yeah, Buck. I’d like to take you out sometime,” he said finally.

Bucky grinned. “Woo!” he whooped, tugging Steve in until their chests touched. “Thank you sincerely for not raining on my awesome night.”

Steve shrugged, resting his hands on Bucky’s waist. “Yeah, well, hard to turn down pretty much the perfect man you know?” He smirked, leaning in some. “Especially one in tights.”

Bucky glanced around quickly then darted in, kissing Steve suddenly, catching him by surprise. Steve’s startled sound stretched into a soft moan when Bucky slid a hand into his hair, kissing him long and slow. Steve tightened his hold around Bucky’s middle unthinkingly, pulling him until they were pressed together. It was only a moment later that they were interrupted by a loud sigh right beside him.

“Oh great, now you have to be _gross_ together.” The startled apart and looked down at Sammy, who was looking at them disapprovingly, arms crossed over her chest. “Daddy. That’s gross. You’re in public. You don’t make out with your boyfriend in public.”

Steve flushed some, worried that ‘boyfriend’ was maybe a bit too forward of a thing for her to say, but Bucky just smirked down at her, hugging Steve close. “Hey, Kid, you’re the one that was so intent on me hearing about all the awesome things there was to know about your dad.” He said with a wink at her.

She just smirked deviously. “Yeah, well, you’re the one that kept asking me what Daddy thought about you,” she accused, and Bucky blushed, turning an embarrassed look at Steve.

Steve sighed, shaking his head as he disentangled himself from Bucky’s hold. “You two teaming up against me is going to be a thing now, isn’t it?” he asked dejectedly. Sammy and Bucky exchanged a look, then turned to him with smirks and answered in unison.

“Yep!”

**Author's Note:**

> Btw, the Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux I was picturing for Natasha and Bucky is totally [THIS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgaUkPqiASc). It's one of my favorites! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this series!


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